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Antiabortion activists rally in Warminster and nationwide

More than 100 antiabortion activists rallied in frigid temperatures near the Planned Parenthood clinic in Warminster on Saturday, one of dozens of demonstrations nationwide in support of efforts by President Trump and Republican leaders in Congress to withdraw federal funding from the agency.

Several demonstrations around Pennsylvania came just days after the state Senate passed and sent to the House legislation that would ban abortions after 20 weeks, four weeks earlier than current law allows, except in the case of medical emergencies. If the House also passes the measure, Gov. Wolf has pledged to veto it, but there may be enough votes in the Republican-controlled legislature to override him.

"Close these places; we do not want these places," said the Rev. Frank Pavone of Staten Island, N.Y., national director of Priests for Life, who spoke at the Warminster rally. "Cain killed Abel, but what should we learn from this failure? The question that God asked Cain is, 'Where is your brother?' We know the answer to that question. The U.S. Supreme Court was asked the same question in 1973 [the year it decided Roe v. Wade, legalizing abortion]. The Supreme Court gave the same answer as Cain, 'I do not know.' "

One abortion-rights demonstrator stood nearby, hoisting a sign that read: "The holder of the uterus decides."

Pavone urged the crowd as well as political leaders to disregard social and political pressure to abandon their principles.

"Those politicians who worry that they will lose votes if they come out too pro-life … this last election proved otherwise," he said.

The Warminster group sang and prayed throughout the two-hour event, holding placards that read, "Women regret abortion," and "Men regret lost fatherhood," among others, as passing motorists periodically tooted their horns in support or flashed a thumbs-up signal.

The protest was one of an estimated 225 demonstrations at Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide and around Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Norristown, Pottstown, Reading, and West Chester. In some cities, abortion-rights advocates organized counter-rallies that were larger. Yet antiabortion demonstrators said that for the first time in years, the center of political gravity has shifted in their direction. Trump last month banned funding to international organizations that perform abortions and his newly confirmed secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Price, has said he supports defunding Planned Parenthood.

Defunding Planned Parenthood would cut about $400 million annually, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and would result in about 400,000 women losing access to care. Under current law, Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood may not be used for abortions, and can only fund other health services such as birth control or cancer screening. Antiabortion groups consider the restriction largely unenforceable and say federal funding for birth-control services merely frees up funds to be used in abortions.

"We want to end abortion and the killing of unborn children," said Barbara Turner, of Bensalem, who attended the rally in Warminster with her friend Martine Benzio.

Turner said she wasn't concerned that Trump himself had once taken an abortion-rights position.

"As far as Trump goes, there have been a lot of converts," she said.

Benzio said she had long been opposed to abortion, but never attended an antiabortion rally until Saturday.

"We feel that with the new administration, there is a lot of momentum building," she said.

Among the Warminster speakers was Lauren Kretzer of the Philadelphia-area chapter of Rachel's Vineyard, which counsels women and men experiencing guilt and regret post-abortion. She said she, too, felt guilt after having two abortions.

"No one ever told me how my abortions impacted my friends, my family, my future husband, or our ability to start a family of our own," she said. Kretzer said she began to recover after attending a Rachel's Vineyard retreat.

Pavone then read the names of women he said had died as a result of abortion procedures. Their identities had been gleaned from newspaper stories and medical-malpractice lawsuits, he said.

The rally ended as the group sang the African American spiritual "Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)."

This article includes information from the Associated Press.